“Murleee,” came Kakkothi’s deafening cries when she couldn’t find her young friend.
Etched in the memory of any true-blood Malayalee movie buff is this scene from Kakkothikaavile Appuppanthaadikal with Revathy playing Kakkothi and Suraj playing the role of Murali.
Suraj, after acting with a few great filmmakers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, K.G. George and Kamal, bid adieu to cinema when he thought he fell back in his studies.
“I never actually went away from films altogether. Even today, I watch a film a day and attend as many film festivals as I can. And yes, I would love a comeback,” says Suraj who works for Petrofac in the United Arab Emirates.
He still remembers K.G. George slapping him to get him to cry, ahead of a shot for Mattoral. “I was allergic to glycerine,” he adds. His first film in 1987, Anantaram, was with another maestro — Adoor Gopalakrishnan .
“My first shot was with Mammooty. He scared the heavens out of me as I only saw Inspector Balram, the character he portrayed in Aavanazhi, in front of me.”
